Leave No Trace Helps Kids Reach the P.E.A.K.

by
Jason Grubb, Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
June 5, 2013

Trailspace supports the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics's mission to inspire responsible outdoor recreation. Trailspace has been a Leave No Trace corporate partner since 2006, and has donated more than $2,000 toward its education and research efforts.

Students learn Leave No Trace practices. (Image: Leave No Trace)

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches people of all ages how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly, and is the most widely accepted outdoor ethics program used on public lands.

Through targeted education, research, and outreach, the center ensures the long-term health of our natural world. In its simplest form, Leave No Trace is about making good decisions to protect the world around you.

In 2013, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics continues its focus to build community-based Leave No Trace programs while measuring the impacts of Leave No Trace education. The center works in classrooms across the country, developing tools for teachers to ensure that all children know and practice Leave No Trace.

As we all know, the outdoors make a great classroom. However, it's not always easy or even possible to get outside. That's why the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics created PEAK Online.

Using the already enormously popular and effective youth education tool PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids) as a model, the center adapted the activities, characters, and messages into an online program.

Now, when you can't get outside, all you need to learn about Leave No Trace, while having fun, is a computer. Through a series of interactive, engaging, and fun activities, such as “Lighten Your Load” where kids pack a backpack full of gear you will need for a day hike, PEAK Online provides the perfect tool to teach kids about recreating outdoors responsibly.

PEAK Online is designed for youth ages 5 to 12, and takes about 20 to 30 minutes to complete. When finished, kids get a certificate to show off just how much they know about Leave No Trace and minimizing their impacts.

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches people how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly. It's also one of the outdoor and environmental nonprofit organizations that Trailspace supports. To learn more about Leave No Trace and its mission and programs, visit lnt.org or call 800-332-4100.